Sunday, February 12, 2012

Carnivorous bladderworts



The above short documentary on bladderworts, which are common carnivorous plants, is odd to say the least. For some reason it is narrated in a heavily accented English. In fact the accent is so strong that the documentary is subtitles so you can understand what she's saying. However, even the subtitling doesn't help much because the text seems to have been produced by a machine translator like Babblefish, so it verges on being gibberish at points. 

I wonder what the story behind its production was?

As for bladderworts, they're the only carnivorous plants that set their trap mechanically. They pump water out of the chamber that they capture their prey in, which causes its sides to collapse and also pulls back the valve that covers the chamber's opening. Because their trap is set via reverse pressure, when it is disturbed the sides of the chamber pop out -- creating a vacuum that sucks the prey in at remarkable speeds as well as closing the trap's valve.
 

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